VOLUME
44,
NUMBER 1
41
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
44(1), 1990, 41
MARIPOSAS DE VENEZUELA, by Theophile Raymond. 1982. Ediciones Corpoven, Caracas,
Venezuela. 275 pp., 53 plates. Hard cover, 29.5 x 23.7 cm, approx. $30.00.
Theophile Raymond was a classic naturalist about whose life we know very little, except
for his scientific accomplishments during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His
research in natural history was diverse and notable and his role in the early scientific
development of Caracas is well recognized, but he is best known for his studies on
butterflies.
Young Raymond arrived in Venezuela from Martinica, probably in the early 1890's,
and it is presumed that he collected butterflies ever since. His premature death, in 1922,
left fatherless perhaps one of the best and largest butterfly collections in Venezuela.
Nothing is known about what happened to this collection, and the reason why it was not
preserved by any of his notable scientist coworkers remains an enigma. Today there is
no doubt that it was lost forever.
His manuscript Fauna Entomol6gica Venezolana. Lepid6pteros Rhopaloceros, written
in 1902, which remained undiscovered for many decades, now is available to lepidopterists
in the present excellent facsimile edition entitled Mariposas de Venezuela. Included in
this edition is an interesting biographical sketch of Raymond, written by the now deceased
Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Yepez, a pioneer Venezuelan lepidopterist. Fernandez-Yepez
also made modifications in the original text, added new identifications, and corrected
errors. Fifty-three full-color original plates, drawn and painted by Raymond, are included.
The first 47 plates represent the most common butterflies (and some Geometridae and
Uraniidae) of Venezuela. The remaining six plates illustrate members of the family
Sphingidae. Only the Hesperiidae and some members of the Lycaenidae and Satyridae
are not classified, because Fernandez-Yepez believed that more time and study were
required to properly identify the specimens illustrated.
The original text of 1902 was hand written in beautiful classic script, providing a strong
indication of the care and dedication he put into his scientific work. The calligraphy of
the latter pages tends to be notoriously impaired, possibly due to his battle with tuberculosis
and his interest in concluding the work rapidly. A sanitary seal printed in the original
book is witness to his lost battle. Despite the fact that it represents an unfinished work
and that it far from covers the entire butterfly fauna of Venezuela, it remains a valuable
scientific and historic contribution to Venezuelan and neotropical entomology. It is a
unique and rare documentation of the butterfly fauna of Caracas and neighboring areas
of yesteryear, before strong demographic influences began to change the abundance and
diversity of this group of colorful insects.
Mariposas de Venezuela , published in 1972 by Michael Schmidt, is primarily directed
at amateur lepidopterists and provides but a poor description of the abundant and rich
fauna of this country. Raymond's work is a much more professional representation, even
though it was written much earlier. It covers both practical and theoretical lepidopterology, and contains an exceptional recount of the classic taxonomic methods of Linne,
Degeer, Scopoli, Fabricius, Latreille, Godart, and many other naturalists. Finally, Raymond describes the natural history of thirteen species of Papilionidae, demonstrating a
good capacity for such detailed biological studies.
Undoubtedly, this book is a bibliographic curiosity, but it is also an important work
that reflects both scientific and artistic facets of lepidopterology.
ANGEL L. VILORIA, Museo de Biolog{a, Facultad Experimental de Ciencias, Universidad del Zulia, Apartado 526, Maracaibo 4001, Zulia, Venezuela.